Scoutmaster Musings

I walked 42890 steps on the trail today.I traveled about 17 miles today.Wild day of options and changes today. At the end of the day, I've wound up in Duluth for a zero day - never expected that one!We started at Mystery Mountain after a night of rain and hiked through cold, windy, rainy morning - not lots of fun but some wonderful views from hipoints over the continually more coloful sea of fall trees. The rain hounded us through the day as we covered miles and Bryan decided he'd cut his trek a day short. That meant we'd camp at Temperance River S.P. And he'd get a ride back up to Cascade River in the am. As we hiked on, I contemplated our options. As long as he's done, he could get a ride this evening and skip a forecast wet cold (28 degree) night in the tent. When we reached the S.P., there was only 1 campspot left and a line of 3 people behind us. So, we took the site, went outside and discussed things.We'd need to arrange a ride in order for Bryan to get his car. As we were talking, Andrew who works at th park walked by. I said HI and we chatted a bit and let him know we were figuring out how to get upshore a ways. He was heading that way at 7pm and offered a ride! Now Bryan was set with a free ride and I had a site to myself. Not looking forward to another wet night, with a forecast of snow on Saturday, we decided to give up the campsite and both head to Duluth. I would figure out a ride back to Temperance on Sunday after the cold and wet blew through.So, a long day of hiking topped off with a drive to town has me relaxing for a day. I've been told taking a day off each week is a good idea anyway.What I learned from the day is to gather all your options, make a decision, but continue to look for improvements and further options. Otherwise, you may make a quick choice and miss out on a better solution that just took a bit more thinking.This pic is fromthe tiptop of Carlton Peak just north of Temperance River on the SHT. It is the highest spot around and you can see at least 20 miles.

I walked 40700 steps on the trail today.I traveled about 17 miles today.Terrific day on the trail with a new hiking buddy. Bryan finally arrived at Cascade River State Park at 1:15AM! We got him set up and slept until about 7 or so. We got hiking before 8am with very cold wind and threatening sky.There were 3 or 4 periods of rain through the day, one so persistent we waited it out under a pine tree. In the afternoon, weather improved and tonight is cool and calm so far.Bryan did an excellent job hiking! We did 17 miles in rough weather with a lot of elevation gain. Tonight, we're on top of Mystery Mountain by Lutsen ski area. We had a campfire but there's no view. Our food bags are hung and hoping for dry winds - contrary to the last forecast we got.Some amazing views today! This pic is of the Poplar River from a cliff overlook west of Agnes Lake - one of my favs so far. We've finally hit some great fall colors and some vistas are ablaze in yellow, orange, and red.No animals today, but we did find Larry at Agnes Lake where I hope he's having luck catching fish on his new tankera fly pole. Haven't seen Pilgrim so he's probably down the trail. Did meet Gray Ghost doing a NOBO with a buddy - he's an avid hiker with journals online.Picked up my first foodcache with no problem. Now pack is heavy with food. Bryan brought my replacement dirty water bag for filter so I'm good there, too. Everything's looking good at the end of a long day on the trail.

I walked 26026 steps on the trail today.I traveled about 12 miles today.Another fairly short day to reach Cascade River State Park where I'm supposed to meet Bryan tonite. We'll hike together until Sunday when he has to return to school. Larry and I hiked together to the park then he went on ahead. I expect Bryan and I will find him on the trail since he's stopping to fish tomorrow.Five days have seen lots of ups and downs, animals, forest types, and weather. This pic is the shore of Lake Superior this evening after an hour of rain just passed through. I spent that time huddled under a cedar tree :-). It's now clearing a little to the south so my fingers are crossed.Last night, it cleared at sunset but then came right back raining for 5 hours during the night. Better then while hiking.My arm warmers from Northern Star Council have been a useful idea the past couple days.My pack is very light now since I'll pick up my first food cache tomorrow. More noodles, yum!Hopefully, my online map is updating regularly but with the thick forest I expect some pings get lost - Check out my current location on the map.

I walked 18725 steps on the trail today.I traveled about 7 miles today.After a wonderful, warm, soft rest at the Aspen Lodge in G.M. (no idea how their continental breakfast, sauna, or pool are) we got hiking about 10:30 on a very windy, cold morning. I think we made a good choice to take this night offtrail.I got us a short ride up the Gunflint Trail to the SHT by using my trusty thumb and winning smile :-). Right at the trail sign, we saw another hiker and it was Pilgrim - a guy Larry had met in the shuttle riding to the northern trailhead. They had hiked together the first couple days. This picture is of them in a beautiful marshy area south of G.M. on the trail.We three stooges are camped together tonite at a great site only 7 miles from GM so it was a short day. No need to go farther since I'm meeting Bryan tomorrow night just 12 miles from here.It's already cold so I expect freezing temp tonight. Clear sky, but I won't be out to enjoy the stars. We did have a campfire which was a treat.

I walked 43686 steps on the trail today.I traveled about 21 miles today.My shelter and I survived our first rain last night. About 4 hours starting before midnight. I stayed mostly dry.I decided to hike with Larry today since he's going the same direction. Met a group on trail and they said it should get down to 25 tonight. Grand Marais is a few extra miles past the E. Devil's Track campsite. When we reached that camp, we had to decide to stay or go on for 6 more miles.So, after a very long 12 hour day of hiking up and down, we're at the Aspen Lodge in G.M. - the only place left in town with vacancy.Shower was great and the rest will be helpful. Tomorrow will be a very short day.On the trail, we saw a very cool eagle, some deer and grouse, tons of red squirrels and tiny birds. The leafs are changing some but the next week should bring more color.This pic is overlooking the lake from Wildflower Hill - the prettiest place on the trail so far.Hey - finished map 4 today and started in on map 3! The maps are numbered for NOBO hikers.

Hit the low spot on the trail today - 602 feet at the shore of Lake Superior. It was beautiful with last night's rain clouds rolling off to the northeast.Today, I'm hiking with a guy named Larry I met at the campsite last night. We're talking aboutbmaybe making it to Grand Marais tonight to avoid the forecast 27 degrees! We'll see.

I walked 43285 steps on the trail today.I traveled about 21 miles today.Much of the trail today was thick brush so not much to see. One part was completely overgrown like a jungle, but the vast majority of trail was well maintained. I hiked into Judge Magney park and saw the way cool Devil's Kettle waterfall. I was tempted to stay at the park but there was too much day left so I made my big meal, drank lots of water, washed up and hiked on.I met Larry at a campsite tonight so we got to visit awhile. Much better than an evening alone. He's heading south too, so we might see each other more.It's supposed to cool off and rain tomorrow - I hope they're wrong!Saw three deer, tons of squirrel, 8 grouse, and 1 eagle. Today was grouse hunting opener and I saw a hunter on the trail. The eagle landed in a huge white pine by our camp tonight. Larry saw a bear and 2 cubs today - lucky!

I walked 23754 steps on the trail today.I traveled about 11 miles today.On the trail again! My wife drove me to the trailhead and I started hiking about 1:15 so I only got to Woodland Caribou campsite. I met a father and son doing a short trip and a young couple just starting their thru-hike.I'm the only one at this site and it's almost dark so I expect they stopped 4 miles back.The trail was nice but not much to see most of the day since it's all overgrown forest.This has been just a perfect first day! Great sunshine and a little breeze. There are a few mosquitos left around, but none have got me yet. No big animals, but there was a lot of moose poop on the trail.

Rats, the local newspaper printed a story so now I actually have to go hiking - Read It.

I've got everything packed.I've left an itinerary at home with all my expected camp spots and mileage, which will be outdated after the first day.I have two food caches ready to be placed.I've got extra batteries for my Spot Messenger.The weather forecast looks ok. The leafs are supposed to be turning color. Should be great!

My wife drops me at the Canadian border on Saturday to walk south to Duluth. If you want to get my hiking blog entries while I'm on the trail, just 'Like' HikingDudeBlog or for just scouting related posts, Like BoyScoutTrail.

Remember, you could use this as a perfect time to get involved in the ScoutStrong Challenge to improve active lifestyles and maybe win some prizes.

Wherever you go, you will meet people that are either producers or consumers. Depending on the situation, we all play both roles at different times. For example, a farm produces food but also consumes petroleum. A person that works at the refinery produces petroleum but consumes food.

In Scouting, we mostly produce and consume knowledge, experience, and skills. Experienced scouts produce the skills education that is consumed by less skilled scouts. As they become more skilled scouts of fine character, they migrate from being consumers to being producers. If you have only experienced scouts, you have too many chiefs and not enough indians. If you have only new scouts, you have skills starvation. For the program to function, we need both producers and consumers. Each individual's scouting trail should take him from consuming more to producing more, with the hope he will continue to produce more than he consumes throughout his life

Being a producer rather than consumer pertains to all of life. That is the essence of leaving the place better than we found it. In general, we're not doing that great of a job these days. Our country consumes much more than our fair share, and more than we are producing. But, we can make steps to change things and I did just that this month.

Our house is now a solar power producer. Our two solar arrays went into production last week and we've produced 224kWh so far. We are producing more electricity than we consume - the surplus goes back into the grid and is consumed by our neighbors.

The system is quite expensive (by this thrifty person's standards), but there are currently rebates from the energy company and federal tax credits which cover almost 2/3 of the cost - so it's a good time to get started. I expect our cost to be recovered in 8 years and the panels have a 25 year warranty. They should produce power much longer than that.

You can view my power production on this page - it's pretty cool. And, it feels good to think I'm a producer now - at least in this small bit.

I was at the local scout shop getting a replacement for my hat that sunk in the lake. I need it for my 300-mile trek that starts this weekend. While looking around, the friendly salesgirl asked if she could help. I told her that her job was to get me to buy something I didn't really need, so she stepped up to the challenge.

After reviewing all the new clothing, literature, trinkets, craft projects, and even a little camping stuff, I noticed she had green arm warmers on. Hey! It IS September and it may get cold over the next couple weeks while I'm on the trail. If I had arm warmers, they'd weigh less than a jacket and they'd cover just the parts that tend to get cold first. They looked like scout green, so I asked her where she got them. She showed me right there.

All she did was take a pair of knee-high scout socks and cut the feet off. They worked perfect! So, she made the sale and I took my pair of socks.

Simple arm warmers are a lightweight option for transitional seasons - not cold enough for a coat but chilly enough to be uncomfortable without one. You can wear them in the morning and roll them down or slip them off as the day warms up. They're useful for cool evenings in camp, too.

Rather than cutting off the entire foot, I wanted to also use them for mittens. I cut a slit across the ball of the foot and a hole in the heel. When I slide them on, my thumb goes through the hole and my fingers through the slit with the toe section folded inside on the back of my hand.

I can flip the toe section over my fingers for mittens if I want.I'm counting this as MYOG (make your own gear) but I could have just bought a pair from Target if I didn't mind pokadots, stripes, frills, or flowers - I prefer the stealth green color. Men's cycling arm warmers seem to be too expensive for my needs.

Now I have my own officially un-official BSA arm warmers + mittens just in case it gets cold or rainy on my Superior Hiking Trail trek over the next two weeks. You can start your ScoutStrong PALA program while I'm on the trail and maybe win prizes.

A scouter from our troop earned his pilot's license this past year at the local community airport. Yesterday, he took me up for a ride on a beautiful, sunny early fall day. This was my first time in a tiny plane and has been something I've always thought would be a wonderful thing to do. It was!

The flight was exactly as I expected - a bit rough, loud, exciting, and fun! It was very interesting to be with someone that has only been flying a short time but was very comfortable with all the instruments, skills, and communications protocols. For me, it was a great reminder how much a scout can grow and learn when placed in a constructive environment where he is challenged and allowed to be self-sufficient. It doesn't take long to become an expert and share skills with others.

We flew from Flying Cloud airport in Eden Prairie to Red Wing airport - the town where they make Red Wing boots and shoes. We were going to land at a grass air strip in Stanton on the way home, but the air there was crowded with gliders so we skipped that. Actually, it reminded me of a WWI dogfight with planes flashing in the sun here and there. When one of them came right at us, that's when my ace pilot decided to head for home.

Here's a few pictures of my awesome day in the blue sky with a great friend...

Pre-flight inspection. There's a lot more to getting ready than I thought. A good pilot doesn't leave anything unchecked. This flying club has a long checklist that the pilot completes before and after every flight. It's a good way to make sure nothing is skipped and the plane is ready for the next flight.

The instrument panel. I now know what most of these are for - altitude, direction, speed, ... there's a lot going on all the time when flying. It's also a bit like the wild west up in the air. You need to be constantly scanning for other aircraft because anyone can fly pretty much anyplace when away from airports.

Taking off from Flying Cloud. The take-offs and landings where smoother than I expected. I guess I had an exceptional pilot! One thing that was kind of freaky is how steep the landing is. It seemed to me like we were doing a nosedive into the ground, but it was perfect.It's also amazing how many tiny airports there are all over the place. A map of airports in Minnesota looks like someone blasted it with a shotgun. And, since many of these airports are unmanned, communications is directly between planes on a pre-defined frequency. So, there is a lot of data you need to have along in order to do things right.

It's always cool to see your house from the sky. :-) A ride in a small plane is kind of like the take-off and landing of a commercial jet. You know, the part where you drop out of the clouds and get to see things for a few minutes as you circle for approach. But, in a small plane, you're at the perfect elevation to see things for the entire flight. It's very cool!

I have a 30 second video of the take-off and approach to Red Wing if you want to see more - View Video